Label



pr 25, i6? D. o. KEsT ETAL LABEL Filed Jan. 4, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l l8\ 2O /IO 22 R/ WAR ANTY ls VALID oNLY No.aoo|35 1F DATED wHEN soLD -JTZ 38 ifi Y *L2/BEY WE DONALD INVENTORS O. KEST BY HAUGAN w. FIGGIS @rainy/,

ATTORNEYS Tam pri 25, 1967 D, o. KEsT ETAL LABEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1965 WARRANTY ADJUSTMENT 26 & 24

FiG.

INVENTOILS` DONALD o. BY HAUGAN w. Gam,

KEST

FIGGIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent @ffice 3,3 l5,38i6 Patented Apr. 25, 1967v 3,315,386 LABEL Donald D. Kast, Cleveland, hio, and Hangan W.- Figgis,

Detroit, Mich., assignors to Alroy Printing Corporation,`

This invention relates in general to labels or information cards and the like, and more particularly to a label or card having adhesive means thereon for ready attachment of the label or card to a product, and including markable indicia areas thereon, providing information concerning the product, such as for instance, the date of sale of the product, or the date of manufacture of the product.

In the sale of many products, including batteries, tires, etc., the products are often sold under a warranty type of arrangement for a specific period of time, and it is necessary for proper application of the warranty to be able to determine when the product was sold or delivered. This is often accomplished by giving the receiver or purchaser of the goods, a tag or ticket upon which is written or marked the date of purchase, and other pertinent information, while a record of such sale is sometimes maintained by the seller or deliverer of the goods. Such tag or ticket is often subject to defacement and Imay be readily misplaced, resulting in the purchaser not being able to prove or determine just when the date of delivery of the goods occurred. Moreover, such arrangement sometimes results in an argument as to whether or not indicia on the tag has been altered and usually necessitates filling out a plurality of records which is a time consuming and inefficient process, but is generally regarded as a necessary evil in the merchandising of such products.

The present invention provides a novel arrangement of label or card which may comprise opposed members one of which may be designated as a facing member'and the other which may 'be designated as a backing member, separated by adhesive means, and preferably pressure sensitive adhesive means. The adhesive means is adapted to remain with the facing member upon separation of the facing and backing members, and the backing member preferably covers the entire adhesive means, so that in ordinary handling, tiling or packaging of the labels, the adhesive means is not exposed.

The facing member has an area or section thereon which is separable from the remainder of the facing member, with said section having information indicia areas thereon,

and with said information indicia areas being markable,

preferably by separation of any selected of the information indicia areas from the separable section of the facing member. Also, the separable section of the facing member has means coacting therewith to prevent exposure of the adhesive on the back side of the facing members separable section upon separation of the facing and backing members. In the embodiment shown the backing member has a section thereon disposed in confronting or opposed relation with the first mentioned separable section on the facing member, and with said backing member section being separable from the remainder of the backing member. The label or card is adapted to be secured to a product by removing the backing member from the facing member, but leaving said separable backing member section in place, thus, exposing the adhesive means on the facing member except for the section of adhesive means covered by said severable backing member section. The tag or card may then be pressed onto the product and adhered thereto `by the adhesive means. The information areas, which may be, for instance, month and year designations, may then -be selectively marked, as by separating them from the first mentioned severable facing section, to indicate, for instance, the date of sale of the goods to a purchaser.

If a claim under the warranty on the goods arises, the dealer can readily separate the separable facing member section from the remainder of the facing member Iwith the marked information indicia thereon, and may readily fasten such removed facing member section to, for in. stance, a claim card, which can be easily transmitted for instance, to the manufacturer, or to, for instance the main office of the selling company, to indicate when the prod-` -uct was sold, or for indicating some other desirable information concerning the product.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a novel information indicia card.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel label a, car-d having adhesive means associated therewith for attaching the label or card to a product or part, and having markable indicia `on the card for providing a record of desired information relating -to the product or part, and wherein such"'markable information may be readily separated 'from' the label or card, for transference to some other record.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel, label or card of the above identified type wherein the adhesive means is a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed between a facing member and a backing member, with the adhesive means 'being adapted vto remain on the back side of the facing member upon stripping or removal of the backing member from the facing member, and with the backing member having a separable section disposed in opposed relation with the removable information indicia section of the facing member, so that upon removal of the backing member from the facing member, the severable section on the backing member will remain on the back side of the facing member and covers the adhesive on said severable section of said lfacing member, so that when the label is aixed to a product, the severable facing member section is not secured by the adhesive to the product.

Another object of the invention is to provide a card of the above identified type wherein the section of the backing member which is severable from the remainder of the backing member overlaps the severable facing member section and completely covers the adhesive means on such section, for insuring that the severable facing member section will not become adhered to the product upon application of the label to the product.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel label or card of the above identified type wherein the information indicia on the severable Ifacing member section. are severablefrom such facing member section, for quickly marking selected of such information indicia on the facing member. .g

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel label or card of the above identified type wherein the severable facing member sectionis completely encompassed by the remainderrof the facing member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel label or card of the above type which is economical to manufacture and is simple to utilize in recording information concerning a product, and one which is highly efficient in use and in so marking information on the label for application to the product.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide ai' comprising a facing member on whichl novel label or card is printed various information, which, for instance, may -be of an advertising nature, or which may disclose information concerning a warranty on the product or goods, and

which includes a severable section having indicia on thef,

severable section for identifying the date of sale or date of delivery of the product, with such facing member havlng a pressure sensitive adhesive covering the entire back surface thereof, and with a backing member covering the pressure sensitive adhesive, with the adhesive being adapted to remain with the facing member upon stripping of the backing member from the facing member, and with the backing member having a Aseverable section thereon disposed in opposed relation with the severable section -on the facing member, and completely covering the adhesive on said severable facing member section, and with the information indicia being severable from the severable facing member section for ready marking such information indicia on the facing member.

Other -objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a front plan view of a label or card-like item produced in accordance with the invention, and having date indicia thereon',

PIG. 2 is a rear side view of the label of FIG. 1 showing the severable section of the backing member;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view showing in more or less enlarged diagrammatic form, the components making up the novel label or card;

FIG. 4 is a generally diagrammatic, perspective view of one of the labels of FIGS. 1 to 3 as mounted on a product, as for instance, upon being produced and shipped by a manufacturer or wholesaler to a retailer, and showing the marking of certain of the information indicia on the label by the removal of the separable indicia areas thereon, thus indicating, for instance, the date of -delivery or sale of the product to a consumer;

FIG. 5 is a reduced size, fragmentary view of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4 but showingcommencement of the peeling or stripping of the separable facing member section from the label;

FIG. 6 is a front view of, for instance, a warranty adjustment card, on which the separated or removed facing member section has been adhered by the adhesive means on the back side thereof, and providing for instance, for convenient recording of such information or for convenient transmitting of such card to a manufacturer, to indicate the date of purchase of the product under, for instance, a Warranty.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral 10 refers t-o a label or card produced in accordance with the instant invention. Such label may comprise a facing member or element 12, a backing member or element 14, and an intermediate layer of adhesive means 16, which preferably completely coats the back side of the facing member 12, and is adhered thereto. The adhesiveY means 16 is preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive of any suitable type, well known in the labeling art, and which remains attached to the facing member upon separation of the facing and backing members. The facing member is preferably slit or perforated as at 18, for enabling the end section 18a to be bent backwardly and thus facilitate separation of the facing member from the backing member, when the card or label is to =be applied to a product, as will be hereinafter discussed.

The facing member may have advertising or other information, or instructions, printed or otherwise appearing thereon, as at 20, and may be identified by numbers or some other system, as at 22, for proper identification of the card or label, and correlation thereof with other records, such as manufacturing records.

The facing member comprises an area or section 24 which is readily separable from the remainder of the facing member, as by means of elongated perforations 24a, which section 24 is adapted to be separated from the remainder of facing member 12 in the event of a claim under the warranty on the product, assuming that the label is used in connection with a warranty arrangement. Section 24 has markable information indicia thereon, such as for instance date indicia, which in the embodiment illustrated comprises a category 26 identifying theVm-onths, and a category 2S identifying years. Such indicia are readily separable in the embodiment illustrated, from the remainder of section 24, as for instance by elongated perforations 30.

The backing member 14 has a section or area 32 which is preferably completely separated as by means of an encompassing slit 34, from the remainder of the backing member, and which is disposed in confronting or opposed relation with the severable section 24 on the facing member. As lcan be best seen in FlG. 2, the severable section 32 on the backing member preferably overlaps the periphery of severable section 24 on the facing member, so that upon removal of the remainder of the fbacking member 14 from the facing member, as by stripping or pulling it off, the severable section 32 remain in confronting covering relation to section 24, and insures that none of the adhesive means on the back side of the severable section 24 will be exposed.

The backing member is preferably formed of suitably waxed or oiled paper which may be readily separated from the adhesive coated facing member, leaving the adhesive on the back side of the facing member upon removal of the backing member. The facing member is preferably formed :from moisture land corrosion resistant material, such as for instance polypropylene sheet, with the printing on the facing member being preferably accomplished by a defacing resistant ink, such as for instance a letter press alkyd vehicle ink.

Use o-f the label or card of the invention may be as follows: the manufacturer -or producer of the goods may take one of the labels of the invention, and when shipping the same to a wholesaler or retailer, removes or separates the facing member from the backing member, thereby exposing the adhesive means on the back side of the facing member except for the portion of the adhesive disposed intermediate the severable section 24 on the facing member and the severable section 32 of the backing member, which section remains with the facing member. The label then can be readily applied to the product as illustrated Ifor instance in FIG. 4, and adheres to the product by the exposed adhesive on the back side of the facing member.

When the product is sold or delivered by for instance the retailer to the consumer, he may readily V.remove one of the information indicia categories 26 and 28 by separating it from the remainder of the severable section 24, to indicate the month and year dates of delivery or sale of the product. Thus, the product is positively identified by its date of sale. The removed discs 26, 28 which are coated by the adhesive on their back sides, may be applied to some other record with a corresponding identiication num-ber such as the number indicated by reference number 22 on the label, for retention by the retailer, if such is desired by the retailer.

It will be seen therefore that such label arrangement provides for quick and efficient indicating on the label attached to the product of the daterof sale, and greatly increases the efficiency of recording or indicating such information concerning the product.

Now if the consumer inds it necessary to make a claim under the warranty on the product, he may return the product to the retailer or wholesaler upon which time the latter can readily remove the severable section v24 on the facing member by tearing or peeling it from the remainder of the facing member which is adhered tothe product. This peeling of the severable section 24 may -be readily accomplished due to the section 32 which underlies the separable section 24, and prevents the adhesive thereon from adhering the section 24 to the product. The retailer or wholesaler can then readily aix such separable section or area 24, which indicates the date of sale of the product, to a card or like record 36 which properly identies the product as for instance by having a number indicated by reference number 38 on the section 24, which corresponds to the identifying number 22 on the facing member. The card or record 36 may then be mailed or transmitted to the manufacturer of the goods, for indicating a claim under the warranty, and for enabling the manufacturer to check his records to determine any information he deisres as tothe manufacture of the product.

It will be understood o-f course that the label can be just as readily applied by the retailer of the goods, rather than the manufacturer, when the product is sold, with the retailer stripping or removing the date discs from the categories 26, 28 to indicate the date of sale of the product by the retailer. Since the label is formed of defacing resistant materials, the information on` the label is generally readily readable, and with the sep-arable section 24 on the facing member being readily usable for application to any records which the retailer may wish to retain or transmit to the manufacturer.

From the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings it will be seen that the invention provides a novel label or card for application to a product or part, and which embodies adhesive means separating a facing member from a backing member and wherein there is provided on the facing member a removable section or area which has indicia thereon, which are readily markable or removable, to provide a record concerning information relating to the product, and which removable section may be subsequently readily detached from the label or card, if ythe consumer nds it desirable or necessary to make a claim concerning the product.

The terms and expressions which have been used are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features described or shown, or portions thereof, A'but it is recognized that Various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

We claim:

1. A label-like article adapted for application to a product for indicating information comprising, a facing member having an encompassing section yand a sever-able section surrounded by said encompassing section, adhesive means secured to the inner face of said sections, a backing member detachably connected to said facing member by said adhesive means, said backing member having an encompassing section and a severable section surrounded by said encompassing section, the severable section of said facing and backing members being disposed in generally confronting relationship with one another, whereby the encompassing section of said backing member is adapted to be removed from said facing member so as to leave the severable section thereof in said confronting relationship with the severable section of said facing member thereby to prevent exposure of the adhesive means on the severable section of said facing member.

2. A label-like article in accordance with claim 1, wherein the severable section of said backing member has a `greater surface area .as compared to that of the severable section of said facing member so that the outer periphery of the severable section of said backing member overlaps the outer periphery of the severable section o-f said facing member.

3. A label-like article in accordance with claim 1,

wherein said adhesive means comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive which remains substantially with said facing member upon separation of said backing member therefrom.

4. A label-like article in accordance with claim 1, wherein the severable section of said facing member includes a plurality of indicia means, .and said indicia means having perforated means adjacent the periphery thereof for selective removal from said severable section.

5. A label-like article adapted for application to a product comprising, a facing member, a backing member disposed in opposed relation to said facing member, and a layer of adhesive material substantially permanently secured to the back side of said facing member and disposed intermediate said facing and backing members for detachably connecting said backing member to said facing member, said facing member having a severable section disposed within its outer periphery, the severable section having perforated means adjacent its periphery for removal of the same vfrom said facing member, said backing member having a severable section disposed in confronting relationship relative to the severable section of said facing member, the last mentioned severable section having perforated means adjacent its periphery for removal of the same from said backing member, said backing member being adapted to be removed from said facing member to exposed said adhesive material to enable application of said facing member to a product and with said severable section of said backing member remaining in confronting relationship with the severable section of said facing member to prevent exposure of the adhesive material on said severable section of the `.facing member with respect to a product, and a plurality of indicia means on said severable section of said facing member adapted for selected .removal from said severable section.

6. A label-like article in accordance with claim 5, wherein said indicia means include disc-like areas disposed on the severable section of said facing member, and said disc-like areas having perforated means for removably attaching the same to said severable section.

7. A label-like article in accordance with claim 5, wherein the facing member has a severed section on one end thereof, which is adapted to be bent outwardly therefrom to facilitate removal of said facing member from said backing member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,004,055 9/1911 Martin 283-21 X 2,001,679 5/193-5 Maughey 40-2 X 3,087,267 4/1963 Gustafson 40-2 3,226,862 l/1966 Gabruk 40-2 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,101,199 4/ 1955 France.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LABEL-LIKE ARTICLE ADAPTED FOR APPLICATION TO A PRODUCT FOR INDICATING INFORMATION COMPRISING, A FACING MEMBER HAVING AN ENCOMPASSING SECTION AND A SEVERABLE SECTION SURROUNDED BY SAID ENCOMPASSING SECTION, ADHESIVE MEANS SECURED TO THE INNER FACE OF SAID SECTIONS, A BACKING MEMBER DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO SAID FACING MEMBER BY SAID ADHESIVE MEANS, SAID BACKING MEMBER HAVING AN ENCOMPASSING SECTION AND A SEVERABLE SECTION SURROUNDED BY SAID ENCOMPASSING SECTION, THE SEVERABLE SECTION OF SAID FACING AND BACKING MEMBERS BEING DISPOSED IN GENERALLY CONFRONTING RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER, WHEREBY THE ENCOMPASSING SECTION OF SAID BACKING MEMBER IS ADAPTED TO BE REMOVED FROM SAID FACING MEMBER SO AS TO LEAVE THE SEVERABLE SECTION THEREOF IN SAID CONFRONTING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SEVERABLE SECTION OF SAID FACING MEMBER THEREBY TO PREVENT EXPOSURE OF THE ADHESIVE MEANS ON THE SEVERABLE SECTION OF SAID FACING MEMBER. 